Resources: human capital, time and space for schools of the future - Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide - page 174

· how can the social system be reconfigured to support an 'open school/
college' model?
· who needs to consider the privacy issues raised by the implementation
of new technologies in open schools/colleges?
2. CPD
· what is appropriate training for education professionals?
3. Families
· is there a need to educate the families as well as the child?
· what kinds of support do families require in an open school/college
system?
· how to work with parents who are not motivated to have their children
learning at home
· how to work with parents whose use of technologies is adversely influenced
by issues of culture, ethnicity and religion?
The teachers contributing to the Leask and Preston (2010) research estimated
that currently only a small percentage of the teaching profession understand
how the future might unfold with respect to technology and teaching and learn-
ing. Given the difficulties of teachers in schools accessing CPD, exchanging exam-
ples of practice through national collaborative professional networks was seen as
a cost-effective form of CPD. See chapter 10 for further information about this
approach.
Developing teachers so they can use technology to
support the curriculum and subject teaching
The quality of teachers, their vision and their capabilities require investment, chal-
lenge and management. Earlier research (Kington et al. 2001) found that staff who
were not comfortable with technologies moved to schools which were less demand-
ing. The polarization of the teaching professional into those who use technology
and those who do not has to be recognized by school & college leaders wanting to
create an ethos where technology is embedded in everyday practice. The following
section provides a framework for teachers to use in developing appropriate software
and pedagogical approaches for their subject areas.
Table 9.3 summarizes the characteristics of effective technology-based tools and
digital resources for subject teaching. Ideas are grouped around three characteristics:
pedagogical , design and technical . Some characteristics may appear to conflict, because
their application will depend on the age of the learner, the skill of the subject teacher
and the subject matter of the package.
Teachers contributing to the Education Futures research who worked with
16+ learners stressed that the design of materials and tools on learning platforms
should enable the role of the learner to change with maturity. This might be
because older learners are expected to be more autonomous than is the case with
younger learners.